Rapper T.I. Speaks Out After Public Intoxication Arrest Outside His Home
May 16, 2018
T.I. was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, public intoxication and simple assault near his Georgia home on Wednesday, May 16, the Associated Press reports.
Henry County Deputy Police Chief Mike Ireland told the news agency that the “Live Your Life” rapper, 37, was taken into custody around 4:30 a.m. after arguing with a security guard. He reportedly lost his key and the guard would not let him enter his gated community, where he lives with wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris.
T.I. (real name Clifford Harris) was booked and released on $2,250 bail later in the day.
The three-time Grammy winner’s attorney, Steve Sadow, claimed in a statement to the AP that his client was “wrongfully arrested.” Shadow said that the guard refused to grant entry to T.I. even after he identified himself and confirmed with Tiny, 42, that he should be allowed inside the gated area.
“The guard continued to refuse entry without justification,” the attorney added. “Words were exchanged and apparently the guard and/or a supervisor called the police. When the police arrived, they were not interested in hearing [T.I.]’s side of the story and wrongfully chose to end the situation by arresting [him].”
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T.I. later spoke with The Blast about the incident. He claimed that the guard was sleeping on the job and started a “very heated debate” when he woke up. T.I. said the guard “may have been hurt by my words” but insisted that things did not become physical between the two.
This isn’t the MC’s first run-in with the law. He served seven months in prison in 2009 after an arrest on federal gun charges. He spent 11 months in federal prison the following year for a probation violation after an arrest on drug charges.